Vehicle window wiper assembly having one-piece carrier with flexible tips

Abstract

A vehicle window wiper assembly has a one-piece carrier with a central section and flexible tips to allow the wiper to accommodate windows of high curvature. The tips have a higher flexibility than the central section, due in part to molded serrations on the bottom surface in combination with decreased thickness and width with respect to the central section. The central section and the tips also have different radii of curvature which provide a uniform pressure distribution across the window during wiping operation, even at high curvature window locations. A blade channel extends the longitudinal length of the carrier for receiving a wiper blade therein. The central section has a molded air foil defined by a downwardly projecting, longitudinally extending lip on a leading edge for preventing wiper assembly lift. The rear edge of the central section may have similar lip. A pair of laterally opposed attachment flanges, as well as laterally opposed stability posts, are integrally molded with the central section, as are the tips and air foil lips. The carrier is integrally molded with the aforementioned features, preferably of a thermoplastic material, with no moving parts, and thus is not susceptible to the adverse effects of snow and ice induced lock-up.

What is claimed is:  
     
       1. A wiper assembly for a vehicle window, comprising: 
       a one-piece carrier having a central section with a first predetermined width and a first predetermined thickness at a middle position thereof to provide a first flexibility;  
       the carrier narrowing in width and thickness with longitudinal distance from the middle position to a pair of tips on opposed ends thereof;  
       each of the pair of tips having serrated edges providing a second flexibility greater than the first flexibility;  
       the central section of the carrier being substantially solid with unserrated edges and having a longitudinal blade channel extending between opposed ends of the carrier;  
       a wiper blade mountable within the blade channel; and  
       attachment means on the central section of the carrier adapted for attachment to a wiper arm.  
     
     
       2. The wiper assembly of claim  1  wherein the central section has a downturned lip along a forward edge thereof and an upturned lip along a rear edge thereof, the lips cooperating to aerodynamically route air over the assembly and to provide a downward force on the assembly to maintain contact with the vehicle. 
     
     
       3. The wiper assembly of claim  2  wherein the attachment means comprises an attachment member integral with the carrier and a clip rotatably mounted thereto along a rotation axis perpendicular to a longitudinal axis or the carrier, the clip adapted for attachment to a hook portion of the wiper arm. 
     
     
       4. The wiper assembly of claim  3  wherein the attachment member comprises a pair of opposed attachment flanges each having a hole therein aligned with the rotation axis for receiving a pin therethrough. 
     
     
       5. The wiper assembly of claim  4  wherein the central section has integral therewith at least two laterally opposed post members on the upper surface adapted for interaction with the wiper arm to provide lateral stiffness of the wiper assembly during window wiping operation. 
     
     
       6. The wiper assembly of claim  1  wherein the carrier is made of a thermoplastic material. 
     
     
       7. A wiper assembly for a vehicle window, comprising: 
       a one-piece carrier having integral therewith:  
       a central section with a substantially smooth central upper surface, a substantially smooth central bottom surface, the central section having a first flexibility and a first radius of curvature when in an unloaded state;  
       a pair of tips extending from opposed ends of the central section, each of the pair of tips having a smooth tip upper surface substantially continuous with the central upper surface, and a tip bottom surface having a plurality of laterally extending notches defining a pair of serrated opposed side walls, the tips having a second flexibility greater than the first flexibility and a second radius of curvature smaller than the first radius of curvature when in an unloaded state, thus providing a continuous flexibility transition between the central section and the tips;  
       a longitudinal blade channel extending through the carrier between opposed ends thereof, the blade channel having a blade opening in the central bottom surface and the tip bottom surface in communication therewith;  
       a wiper blade mountable within the blade channel; and  
       attachment means on the central section adapted for attaching the carrier to a wiper arm, wherein the attachment means comprises:  
       a clip housing removably and rotatably attached to the central section, the clip housing having an arm attachment section above the upper surface of the central section laterally connecting a pair of longitudinally extending, opposed housing sides, the clip housing also having a tip receiving channel in the attachment section adapted for receiving a tip end of a wiper arm therein; and  
       a clip member in one of the opposed sides having a clip head extending into the tip receiving channel adapted for removable, mating attachment with the tip end of wiper arm, and an unlock tab extending beyond an outer surface of the one of the opposed sides for operation of the clip member between a locked position with the clip head engaged with the tip end of the wiper arm and a release position with the clip head disengaged from the tip end of the wiper arm.  
     
     
       8. The wiper assembly of claim  7  wherein the notches are parallelogram shaped. 
     
     
       9. The wiper assembly of claim  8  wherein the parallelogram shape of the notches are positioned so that a leading edge thereof are coincident with a bottom tip surface. 
     
     
       10. The wiper assembly of claim  7  wherein each of the tips has an overbend with respect to a curvature of the central section. 
     
     
       11. The wiper assembly of claim  7  wherein each of the opposed sides of the clip housing has an opening for rotatable mounting to a trunion on a side of the central section.